Michael C. Thorpe: Barstool Sports: Solo Exhibition

BOSTON, MA — LaiSun Keane is pleased to present Barstool Sports, an exhibition of newly created works by Michael C. Thorpe to be held from September 6th to October 27th, 2024. This is the artist’s second solo exhibition with the gallery and the presentation is noteworthy and exciting as Thorpe made significant leaps into experimenting with mediums and techniques. 

Working from and inspired by Massachusetts’ love of sports and its controversial yet iconic blog and digital media company, Barstool Sports, Thorpe gives his point of view (POV) on the theme of sports and its personalities. Through the primary medium of textile and quilting, his depictions of his subject matters are in his own words, not supposed to be “too on the nose”, leaving room for interpretations and viewers’ imagination to complete the puzzles. 

Thorpe, a former college basketball player, brings his extensive knowledge of the sports world and a deep understanding of what it takes to succeed in competitive environments. Now in his fourth year as a full-time artist living in Brooklyn, Thorpe frequently draws parallels between his athletic background and his art practice, richly informing his work. 

This new body of work marks the artist’s evolution into making works that are abstracted. Figures are disproportionate, the faces are simply drawn, and works incorporate mixed media for example, crayon on textile, soft sculpture sewn onto the textile pieces, and even collages of digital print medium. However, each piece retains his signature vibrantly colorful compositions, and the creative expressiveness that sets him apart. 

Michael C. Thorpe grew up in Newton, MA and graduated from Emerson College with a BA in Photojournalism. He has had solo exhibitions at Forum Gallery, NYC; Luis Buhl Gallery, Detroit, MI; and Anthony Gallery, Chicago, IL. Solo museum exhibitions include, Paul R Jones Museum, Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Delaware Contemporary, Wilmington, DE; Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA; Hickory Museum of Art, Hickory, NC; and (forthcoming) California Heritage Museum, Santa Monica, CA. Art fairs include Untitled Miami; Spring/Break NYC; Art on Paper NYC; Art Miami, Expo Chicago; and (forthcoming) Swab Barcelona. His work is in the permanent collections of the MFA Boston, MA; Fuller Craft, Brockton MA; and Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham AL. He currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.